Teachers in key shortage subjects in the first five years of their career in the poorest schools are now eligible for “targeted retention incentive payments” of up to £6,000.
Previously called the “levelling-up premium payment”, this fund was doubled by the Conservatives in April 2024. Following its election victory, Labour opted to keep the payments, although it has changed the name.
The doubling of the teacher retention payment fund in 2024 came amid a spiralling teacher recruitment and retention crisis. The Labour government has since pledged to recruit an additional 6,500 teachers to address staff shortages.
Who is eligible for the teacher retention payment?
- those in the first five years of their career - in eligible state-funded schools teaching the shortage subjects chemistry, computing, mathematics and physics can claim the bonus.
The retention payments are offered to teachers in the schools in the poorest areas with a high need for teachers, and those in an Education Investment Area (EIA) can receive the highest payment of £6,000.
How much can teachers get?
Eligible teachers will be able to receive two annual payments of up to £6,000 each, meaning a teacher receiving the maximum payment in both years will receive £12,000 in total.
Teachers in the most disadvantaged 30 per cent of schools - based on the proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium - can receive the full annual sum of £6,000 in an EIA, or £4,000 if their school is outside an EIA.
Teachers in the next most disadvantaged 20 per cent of schools can receive £5,000 in an EIA, or £3,000 outside of an EIA.
Teachers in a further 20 per cent of the next most disadvantaged schools in EIAs will receive £4,000.
When can teachers apply for the retention payments?
Eligible teachers can apply from autumn in the 2025-26 academic year.
If successful, they will receive a payment in the same academic year that they apply for it. They will get two payments in total if they are eligible and paid in both years.
Why did the previous government double the fund?
Gillian Keegan, when she was education secretary in the previous Conservative government, said the payments would ensure that schools and colleges “can support the recruitment and retention of dedicated teachers in high-priority subjects and in the areas that need them most”.
Will the payments solve staff shortages?
In response to the initial announcement of the payments, school leaders said that while investment in the teaching profession was welcome, a much more radical approach was needed to solve the problem of teacher shortages.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said the scheme could have “some localised benefits”, but it would be just a “sticking plaster approach” and “does not begin to get to the bottom of the severe recruitment and retention crisis facing schools”.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, echoed Mr Whiteman’s misgivings, and warned that the scheme was “an attempt to patch up a system that is already broken”.
Mr Di’Iasio was also concerned that such targeted approaches could “further demoralise those who are not eligible for pay incentives, particularly those working in subjects where teacher shortages are just as severe”.
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